Dell EMC names first top tier partners

Just before most people packed up and shut up shop last year Dell EMC revealed the steps the channel would have to take to get the various levels of partner programme tiering.

The vendor had already revealed in October that there would be would have three main levels: titanium, platinum and gold, with an exclusive titanium black status also available.

Existing platinum partners would be eligible to go for the Titanium Black level and the vendor has revealed the first to reach that goal.

CDW and World Wide Technology (WWT) have been given the chance to be in the vanguard of those achieving the top tier of the programme, which launches on 4 February.

"CDW has become one of a very select number of companies to be awarded Titanium Black status in the updated DellEMC partner programme," stated the firm "This new, highly exclusive status is an extension of the Titanium Tier within the Dell EMC Partner Program and will apply globally to all entities under the CDW banner."

The response from Bob Olwig, vice president of business development and innovation at WWT, was also upbeat and stressed the commitment the channel player had made to the vendor.

“We established this strategic partnership to provide enterprise customers with hands-on access to Dell EMC technology for private and hybrid cloud, storage, data protection and availability, converged infrastructure, big data analytics, security and the Internet of Things,” said Olwig.

John Byrne, president, Dell EMC global channels, is hoping that the Titanium Black level is seen as the creme de la creme.

"Partners with Titanium Black status have placed a big bet on Dell EMC. They’re going above and beyond. They’re investing heavily in us and we are returning the investment in them so they can continue to achieve the extraordinary," he wrote in a pre-Christmas blog post.

"Titanium Black provides a rare and distinctive opportunity far and above what partners have experienced anywhere in the industry," he added "Together, through the Dell EMC Partner Program, Dell EMC and our partners will attack the market—with our Titanium Black partners leading the way. We’ll deliver incredible transformation for our customers. We’ll be the channel to watch."